On 11/20/2013 11:15 AM, Eric Dannewitz wrote: > I think both finale and Sibelius are pretty much the top of what you can do > with notation. I don't really know what people expect other than little > refinements to the programs in each version.
Everything about the process of notation can be made a full order of magnitude more intuitive and productive. Where are their future customers coming from? There are many potential customers who have tried these notation products and found them overwhelming. I know a lot of folks here wear the Finale learning curve like a badge of honor. But the flip side of that coin is that it prevents sales to much larger numbers of customers. You have to make the product less arcane by a factor of 10 to reach these customers. And it can be done. It just takes more vision than has been demonstrated. Moreover, a good part of the potential market is sophisticated musicians (and educators) who are very tuned into the broader world of "music technology". If MakeMusic wants to reach the next generation of musicians -- the real opinion leaders -- Finale will have to be much more interoperable and seamless with the DAW world, and much more inclusive of the best plug-in technologies that are ubiquitous in the DAW world. Makemusic will not have a financially viable product in 2 years if they do not embrace those concepts. I realize that functionally, Finale will continue to suit most folks here just fine, but there will simply not be enough revenue to fund the product's continuation. And I assure you that venture people are very tuned in to the ROI. They don't look upon this as a civic cause or a charity. Regarding Avid, the situation is much more severe than you described. Sibelius is not being developed in any significant way. It is as close to an end-of-line product as one gets without formally announcing that. There may be small tactical releases in the future, and perhaps some merging of function with ProTools, but no major new advancement of the notation art. The developers are all with Steinberg now. It appears to me the venture guys running MakeMusic have decided NOT to go the direction that Avid went. They are well aware of Steinberg's efforts and fully understand they have something like an 18 month window to establish their strongest position when the Steinberg product comes to market. _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
